Attitudes and perceptions of domestic and imported chicken

Price is one of the most important themes that emerged from the discussion. Majority of the participants seem to be price-conscious as price tends to be one of the decision factors they use to make a purchasing decision: “You will always compare the prices in the market and see which one will be better for you based on your budget.” In comparison with other meat types

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such as red meats, most of the participants were of the view that chicken is cheaper. Thus, chicken is seen to give good value for money compared with other meats. However, price was a typical domain in which participants used to distinguish domestic and imported chicken.

Overall, most of the participants perceived domestic chicken as more expensive than imported chicken. Typical comments were: “Imported chicken is always available and very cheap such that with a little budget you can get enough for the entire family” (a male participant), and “You can get a full dressed imported chicken for about GH¢18 to GH¢24, while you would need about GH¢30 to GH¢50 to buy a local chicken” (a female participant). The higher price of the local chicken makes it difficult for them to purchase it on a regular basis, even though the majority expressed their wish for regular consumption. One female participant explained this by: “I would like to eat the local chicken often, but it is too expensive, so I cannot afford to buy it regularly. I only buy it when there is an occasion such as Christmas and Easter.” Some participants also perceived the higher price to connote some level of quality: “A good quality chicken is also expensive or has a higher price, especially the local ones.”

Furthermore, the issue of health was highlighted and repeated throughout the discussions. In general, the majority of the participants perceived chicken as healthy, regardless of its origin (i.e., domestic or imported). The healthiness of chicken is one of the major reasons why most Ghanaians buy it. A female participant captures this in an expression: “I always hear the phrase ‘everybody likes chicken’ from people.” The discussions in relation to health generally focused on the leanness or low-fat content of chicken, which is good for their health.

This makes chicken meat attractive to participants who were very conscious of their health.

Some participants further indicated that fat could be removed from chicken before cooking, which is not possible or difficult with other meat types: “It is easier to peel off the skin and it is the skin that has the fat…so, when you peel off the skin, it becomes less fatty.”

Despite the general perception of chicken as being healthier meat, most of the participants perceived imported chicken as less healthy than domestic chicken: “We believe that imported chicken is not healthy, but that is what we eat most because it is cheap.” When asked why they believed that imported chicken is not healthy, participants indicated that they perceive imported chicken to be injected with growth hormones, certain chemicals such as antibiotics or contain certain additives, which they believe might not be good for their health: “We think the imported ones are injected with more chemicals and growth hormones that make them mature within a very short time.” Some were also of the view that the lack of knowledge about the way imported chicken is produced and handled informs the perception of its unhealthiness. A typical comment was: “We do not get to see how the imported chicken is produced, but we know that

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they are very big in size and we believe they are given some drugs to make them grow big and this is very disturbing.” Notwithstanding, the perceived health risks associated with imported chicken did not seem to prevent consumers from consuming imported chicken meat. Many of these perceptions are mainly based on hearsay and mass media reports or the internet through social media: “We thought chicken is the best meat for us, but of late, we see some documentaries on social media, in which injections are given to chicken, so it gives it a bad image.”

The ease of preparation was mentioned by participants as another aspect when asked about the main differences between local and imported chicken meat. Almost all participants indicated that the imported chicken is very convenient and faster to prepare compared with the local chicken. The domestic chicken is mainly purchased live on the market, while the imported ones are available as frozen whole dressed and parts such as wings, leg quarters/thighs, gizzards, and backs. This is captured in the statement: “Imported chicken saves time; you do not need to buy and then take it home to kill, dip it in hot water before plucking the feathers, and then cut into pieces for stew or soup…so for convenience it is better.” Furthermore, most of the participants perceived many relative advantages with respect to the variety that imported chicken brings, especially the availability of parts. Participants appreciated having the opportunity to choose among different types of imported chicken cuts. This gives participants the option to buy only a portion of chicken instead of the whole chicken and thus aiding in avoiding waste. Likewise, some participants believed that the portion size makes it possible to adopt “western-style” foods as opposed to the “traditional” food associated with the local chicken.

While most of the participants emphasized the convenience associated with imported chicken, others also indicated that live chicken can be slaughtered and processed on demand for a fee in local markets and that one must not necessarily take it home to slaughter. Thus, buying domestic chicken meat is becoming more convenient. However, most of the participants still believed that it is time-consuming, as indicated by a male participant: “You have to wait in the market for the seller to dress the chicken for you and you will normally spend about 30 minutes waiting.” Another advantage that comes with the convenience of the imported chicken in terms of its availability in parts is the “free gift” consumers get from purchases. Some participants indicated that when buying imported chicken (i.e., parts), it is possible to bargain with the seller to add extra portion as a gift.

In regard to convenience, the availability of chicken meat at markets and shops was also an aspect that emerged during the discussions. Compared with the imported chicken, which is

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available at different shopping locations (i.e., traditional markets, cold stores, and supermarkets), some participants criticized that the local chicken is mainly available at the traditional markets. Here, participants would wish to have a more adequate distribution and supply at conveniently located places: “The local chicken is only in the traditional markets and poultry farms unlike the imported, which is readily available and can be found in almost every area…you can get it anytime.”

In terms of quality, most of the discussions mainly focused on the quality attributes of the local and imported chicken. Majority of the participants perceived the local chicken to be tastier than the imported: “When you compare with imported chicken, the local chicken is tastier.” In most of the discussions, taste was often associated with freshness. Participants who believed the imported chicken is not tasty compared with domestic chicken attributed it to long freezing time. A typical statement given was: “As for the imported chicken, I do not really like because it has kept long in the fridge, thus making it not fresh. When used to cook, it is tasteless.” However, not all participants agreed that all imported chicken is tasteless. Few of them believed that some of the imported chicken have better taste, exemplified by “I also think some of the imported ones are tastier.” In addition, a clean and trustful environment, in which the chicken is sold, was particularly important to assess the quality of chicken. For example, two female participants stated: “Personally, I use the place of purchase and the surrounding environment to indicate the quality of the chicken,” and “I like to go to the supermarket to buy chicken because I believe it is very good and the environment where it is being sold is clean and hygienic.” Participants indicated that they rely on the color and physical form of chicken as primary criteria to infer quality at the point of purchase. Related to dressed or processed chicken, a discoloration would be an indicator of poor quality. For live chicken, characteristics such as weight and general physical wellbeing (e.g., wet droppings, loss of feathers, sleepiness, and weakness) are used to access quality.

With regard to local chicken, participants described the risk associated with the outbreaks of avian influenza by using words like “fear and panic,” and “afraid and scared.”

Majority of the participants indicated that they stay away from purchasing or consuming local chicken for some weeks and divert to other meat types until they hear from the media or government sources that the problem had died down or been curtailed. Although this problem is only related to the domestic chicken, some of them also indicated not consuming imported chicken during these periods: “Normally it is announced on radio or television and when we hear that we stop consuming chicken altogether for a while.” However, few participants who found it difficult to stop consuming chicken in these periods indicated strategies they have

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developed to mitigate the risk including cooking chicken for long hours. Participants offered some suggestions to the government that will help in minimizing the risk associated with chicken. These suggestions were that the “government should monitor the domestic poultry production processes (i.e., feeding, housing, etc.),” and the “government should equip the agencies responsible for checking the quality of chicken produced in the various poultry farms.”

Origin also emerges as a theme due to the association of chicken to certain countries.

Regarding the origin of imported chicken, some participants had a general knowledge of the countries they come from while others did not: “We know that there are some from U.S.A and Brazil, but the chicken we buy has no package or label on them to know exactly where they are originating from unless you buy the whole box, which has the branded names.” Aside from the local chicken that is perceived to be of better quality, some participants in selecting the different types of imported chicken products use Brazilian chicken meat as criteria for good quality. For example, one female participant remarked: “… the hard one is from Brazil, so if I go to the cold store, I tell the seller I want Brazil and it will be given to me.” This finding is consistent with a report by USDA (2017), which indicated that consumers in Ghana perceive the Brazilian chicken to be of better quality than those offered by the U.S. In addition, participants indicated that the production system is important since it will eventually lead to differences in meat quality. However, it became evident that majority, if not, all participants did not have deeper knowledge about the commercial production of domestic chicken and even nothing, if anything, about chicken production in other countries. Participants were therefore interested in more details about chicken production, for example, the type of feed, the usage of chemicals such as antibiotics and growth hormones. Despite the limited knowledge of the production systems, some participants trusted in the local production system and its ability to produce chicken that is safe as exemplified in the following remark: “We believe the local chicken is given better feed, but we do not know the kind of feed given to the imported chicken.”